A/N - Okay, here's the new chapter of A Beautiful Curse. I was having a bit of trouble writing this one up, but then again I've been pretty out of it lately and haven't been feeling 100%.
Anyways, before I begin, I'd like to say that I've heard your complaints about this story, and I'm sorry that it had a bit of a rough start and wasn't to your expectations. I can't please everyone, and I don't intend to try. Like I said before, when I was writing the first chapter, I was having a hard time because I was sick and was feeling pretty spacey. The same issue occurred again while writing this chapter. I just haven't been feeling so great and it does affect my writing sometimes.
Anywho, this chapter covers all the matches in the preliminaries...and that's it. It's just a bunch of fights. I would have written more, but I felt that where I ended this chapter was a good place to call it quits.
Without further adieu, enjoy this chapter! Hopefully. lol
Chapter 2 - Preliminary Matches
To say Orochimaru was displeased would be something of an understatement. He had hoped that his Genin team from Otogakure would have made it through to the third stage of the Chunin Exam, but that hope seemed to be dashed. On top of that, Sasuke Uchiha had gone from being a young man to a young woman and the curse mark he had placed on her had mysteriously vanished! He didn't know what the hell happened, and it bothered him a great deal.
As he looked around at all of the Chunin hopefuls, the Snake Sannin frowned, his eyes eventually settling on the transformed Sasuke. I could try applying the curse mark again, but without knowing what the hell went wrong, I doubt it would do me much good to try again. I'll have to figure out some other way to bring Sasuke-kun to me.
Down below, Shikamaru sighed as the match begun. His opponent, one Misumi Tsurugi, quickly went on the attack, but the shadow user ensnared him with his Shadow Imitation Technique before he could get too close. "You're not too bright, are you?" Shikamaru asked, not expecting an answer from his opponent. "I suggest you surrender now." he said before moving his hand down his right leg, forcing his opponent to reach down with his left hand to the kunai holster strapped to his leg. Shikamaru, who had his kunai holster on his left leg, smirked as he forced Misumi to withdraw a kunai and press it up against his throat. "Give up, unless you'd like to kill yourself. I don't really want to take things that far, but if you push your luck, that's how this is going to go down."
Misumi scowled angrily at Shikamaru, furious that he had been bested so early into the fight. When he went to yell at the lazy Nara, Shikamaru forced him to press the kunai against his throat so tightly that it drew blood. Gulping, he shot a glance at the proctor, Hayate Gekko, and croaked out, "I-I give. I surrender."
Shikamaru smiled and began to walk off after being declared the victor of the first match. It was a short one, but he'd have it no other way. Before climbing the stairs to the viewing platform, he shot one last look at Misumi and said, "You only lost because you underestimated me. I'm sure you would have been quite the challenge otherwise." he said before climbing the stairs and rejoining his teammates.
As Misumi rejoined his friend and sensei, who was in fact Orochimaru in disguise, he grimaced as he caught the glare sent his way. Deciding not to push his luck, he stood next to Yoroi Akado and sighed, but didn't speak a word.
It was at this point that the next match was announced, the two Genin picked by the randomizer being Sakura Haruno and Choji Akimichi. As the two of them made their way down into the arena, Sakura looked quite confident while Choji looked a bit nervous. However, with the promise of an all you can eat BBQ feast, he soon perked up and looked like he was raring to go.
When the match started, Sakura took the initiative to rush forward and throw a punch at Choji's face. Not willing to let himself be hit by such an attack, Choji slipped around behind her and punched her in the back, knocking her to the ground.
Quickly moving back from his opponent, Choji quickly activated his Multi-Size Technique and expanded like a balloon. Afterwards, he tucked his limbs and head inside the ball he had become and used his Human Bullet Tank technique to began charging towards Sakura.
Sakura, who had just gotten to her feet, turned in time to see him rolling towards her. Eyes widening in horror, she leapt out of the way before withdrawing a kunai and charging towards her opponent, who was just turning around to continue with his attack. As she reached him, Sakura swung her kunai at the spinning ball of doom, only to wince as her wrist snapped upon impact with the high speed boulder that was her enemy. Before she could do anything more, she was crushed by Choji, who, after rolling over her, cancelled his techniques before looking down at her. "A-Are you okay?" he asked, hoping he didn't seriously hurt her.
The pinkette couldn't respond, however, as she had fallen unconscious upon being crushed. "Winner: Choji Akimichi!" Hayate exclaimed before allowing the medics to rush in and carry Sakura off so her wounds could be tended to.
Choji, seeing as his opponent was being taken care of, rejoined his team on the upper level, a frown on his face. He didn't like hurting his friends, but he didn't want to lose either. As he made to walk past Team 7, Naruto patted him on the shoulder and offered him a smile. "Don't feel too bad Choji. She'll be fine. Hopefully this will give her the kick in the butt she needs to start taking her training more seriously."
The pudgy boy smiled at his friend and nodded once in understanding before saying, "Thanks Naruto." Afterwards, he returned to his team and smiled more when they congratulated him on his victory.
Gaara vs. Kiba Inuzuka
Seeing who he was up against, Kiba felt a cold shiver go down his spine. Eyes going wide, he looked at his redheaded opponent and began to find it difficult to breathe. Shit. he thought.
When Akamaru began to whimper and shake his head, Kiba removed his friend from atop his head and looked him in the eyes seriously. "Akamaru, buddy...what should we do, huh?"
Akamaru barked a couple of times and shook his head. Kiba, nodding in understanding of his friend, quickly raised his hand and said, "Proctor, I forfeit! I'm not looking forward to dying today!" That and I don't want to risk losing Akamaru to some crazed psychopath.
Gaara did not look pleased at this declaration, but rather than say anything, he returned to his team and began to scowl, clearly displeased at not getting the chance to feed his 'mother' the blood she so desired.
Hayate couldn't help but admit to himself that Kiba made the right decision. Turning his attention back to the randomizer, he waited patiently for it to stop on the next two names. This time it showed the names Rock Lee and Omoi.
Lee cheered excitedly at the fact that he was finally up and leapt down to the arena below. Omoi, on the other hand, didn't look too pleased as he joined his opponent down below. I hate such energetic people. He thought with a sigh.
As soon as the proctor announced for them to begin, Omoi was quick to draw his sword and bring it up to block Lee's punch. The strength behind his punch, however, caught the Kumo shinobi off guard. Quickly leaping back, away from Lee, Omoi eyed his opponent carefully. This guy's strong. If I'm not careful, he could break my sword!
When Lee dashed towards him again, the Kumo ninja charged Raiton-natured chakra through his blade and swung at Lee's midsection. Lee, seeing the danger such an attack could pose, stopped his charge and dodged by leaping back a couple of feet. However, as he was doing so, he could feel the electricity spark off the blade and strike his arm, causing it to go numb.
Frowning at this, the Konoha Genin waved his arm about a few times to try and get the feeling back. "Don't bother. My technique allows me to shock your nervous system and affect your mobility. You were lucky to avoid the worst of the damage, but your arm's going to be useless to you for a while." Omoi explained.
Lee frowned as he looked at his opponent with a cautious gaze. Omoi's technique would be troublesome to deal with, but he was confident that he could get around that particular defense. Before he could say or do anything more, however, he heard his sensei, Might Guy shouting at him to 'take them off'. Looking up at his sensei, he was about to ask if he was sure, but the very moment he looked away, Omoi struck, slashing diagonally from Lee's right shoulder down to just above his hip on the left side of his body, sending Raiton chakra coursing through his opponent's body.
Everyone watched as Lee fell to his knees, his body spasming while blood leaked from his fresh wound. Damn, that doesn't look good. Naruto thought to himself as he watched his senior Genin struggle to try and stand to his feet. When he collapsed face first onto the ground at Omoi's feet, his body refusing to listen to him, Lee let out a groan from the sheer frustration he was feeling more than from the pain.
Not willing to give his opponent a chance to continue, Omoi pressed his blade against the Konoha Genin's throat and said, "Yield Lee-san. I don't want to kill you, but if you push your luck, I will. Even though it might agitate your sensei and cause him to hate me so much that he seeks me out on the battlefield somewhere down the line and we get into a big clash that tears up the landscape and…"
"Shut the hell up already Omoi!" the redhead on his team shouted at him, tired of his rambling.
Blinking a couple of times, Omoi shot a quick glance over his shoulder and nodded slowly in response. Looking back down at Lee, he frowned as he watched the green-clad Genin struggling to move.
Omoi went to say something, but Lee's sensei shouted down at him, "I'm sorry Lee. Please don't push yourself anymore! It would be most unyouthful to see your life snubbed out before you truly get your chance to shine!"
Lee managed to turn his head to look at his sensei, seeing how serious he now looked. Sighing, the black-haired youth looked at Omoi's feet and said, "I...I give up. Sorry Guy-sensei. I let you down."
Omoi breathed a sigh of relief as he sheathed his sword and returned to his team. Meanwhile, Rock Lee was carried out on a stretcher by the medic nin so they could get to work healing him. Once they were out of the room, the randomizer started up once again.
Yoroi Akado vs. Hinata Hyuga
As Hinata was preparing to go down into the arena, she overheard Neji talking and frowned to herself as she heard what he was saying. "If she's smart, she'd forfeit now. It's her fate to be a pathetic nobody, a loser. Why try to fight her fate?"
When Hinata looked about ready to cry, her sensei patted her on the shoulder and smiled sweetly at her. "Give it your best Hinata-chan. You'll do great."
Thanking her sensei, Hinata made her way down to the arena floor and stood across from her opponent. "If you were smart, you'd quit now little girl." Yoroi said. "If you don't, I'm likely to kill you."
Shooting a glance up at her team and then to Neji, Hinata looked quite uncertain and began to fidget in place. However, she heard someone shout something and looked to see who it was. Naruto-kun?
"Hey! You with the butt for a face!" Naruto shouted, pointing at Neji. "I heard what you said! Hinata's gonna wipe the floor with this punk! Fate doesn't decide jack about anything! But if you truly believe fate is what controls us, then perhaps I should start calling you Fate's Bitch? How about that, huh?!"
Neji looked furious at hearing this and was about to charge Naruto before he felt a strong hand clamp down on his shoulder. Looking into his sensei's eyes, he watched as Guy shook his head, a deep frown on his face. Scoffing, Neji turned his attention back down to Hinata and said, "I guess you losers have to stick together. Good for you."
The whiskered blonde looked at Hinata and said, "Mop the floor with this guy Hinata! You're strong! I know you can do it!"
Hinata smiled, glad to hear her crush cheering her on. Turning to face her opponent, she took the opening stance of the Gentle Fist taijustu style and activated her Byakugan, preparing to fight and, more importantly, win.
Once the match begun, Yoroi smirked at his opponent and decided to mock her a bit more to try and get rid of her newfound confidence. "So the little girl's grown a bit of a backbone. It won't be enough. You're just a pathetic little coward who couldn't fight her way out of a wet paper bag. I'm going to enjoy tearing you down."
With that being said, Yoroi dashed forward and attempted to grab her by the arm, but she slipped around to his side and, in the process of doing so, struck numerous points on his outstretched arm. As his arm went limp, he scowled and swung his other arm in an attempt to punch Hinata in the face.
Once again, the Hyuga heiress dodged the attack, this time by ducking below it, allowing her to counterattack with a fierce palm thrust to his chest, sending a burst of chakra through her palm on instinct. When her opponent collapsed to his knees and then fell to his side, his eyes boring up into hers before they quickly lost their light, her eyes widened in horror at what she had just done. "N-no...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to…" she stuttered out in denial of what she had just done. "Nooooo!" she screamed as she collapsed to her knees, clutching at her head and shaking it rapidly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Kurenai was quick to jump down and wrap Hinata in a warm embrace, whispering soothing words to her and trying to help her through the trauma of her first kill. She knew she should have blooded her Genin earlier on a proper mission, but part of her wanted to let Hinata keep her innocence for a while longer. When she entered her team into the Chunin Exam, she never thought something like this might happen, and now that it was? Well, she just wanted to be here to help guide Hinata through the process.
Helping Hinata to her feet, the Genjutsu Mistress guided her back up the stairs and to her team. As they were passing Team 7, Naruto reached out and placed a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "Hinata? It's going to be okay. It was just an accident. We know you didn't mean to…"
"Of course she meant to. All Main Branch Hyuga are that way. They're monsters that think they can do whatever they want and get away with it simply because they're 'superior'. Pah!" Neji interrupted, disdain clear in his tone of voice.
"Ignoring the asshole with a stick way too far up his butt, your friends are here for you Hinata. We'll help you through this however we can. I promise." Naruto said, choosing to ignore Neji's rude comments.
Hinata looked at Naruto for a moment before clinging onto him and sobbing, her tears soaking his shirt. Naruto was shocked at first, but he quickly wrapped his arms around Hinata's back and began to pat her on the back gently. "You'll be okay Hinata. It'll be okay."
Neji Hyuga vs. Temari
When they had both taken their places down in the arena, Neji, in his usual arrogant way, said, "You should just forfeit now. It is fate for you to lose to me today."
The pigtailed blonde quirked a brow as she held her weapon at the ready. "Really? That's the best you've got for me? You really are just as Naruto said, Fate's Bitch. How sad and, as you seem to enjoy calling others, pathetic you are." she said with a smirk on her face. "I'll show you that fate doesn't decide things such as this. It's about skill, not the luck of the draw."
Neji clenched his fists and activated his Byakugan, narrowing his eyes in anger towards the girl for daring to mock him. As soon as the match began, he rushed forward, intent on closing off her tenketsu and perhaps even killing her for what she said. However, as he drew closer, she opened her fan and unleashed a Futon technique at him, forcing him to take evasive maneuvers to avoid taking damage.
Temari knew that if her opponent got in close enough, he'd become far too dangerous to handle. So, utilizing her Futon techniques, she kept him at bay while trying to formulate some kind of plan. From the looks of it, he didn't know a few of the more important techniques that his clan was famous for, and she was grateful for that. If he knew even just the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven technique, that would make this match much harder. Though at the same time, it would probably wear him down with each usage, so she could have used that to her advantage, she supposed.
After a few brief moments, Temari saw an opening and quickly dashed forward, closing her fan and swinging it with as much force as she could, slamming it into Neji's stomach and sending him flying backwards, tumbling end over end. Before he could recover from the blow, she unfurled her fan again and swung it, once more releasing a Great Sickle Weasel Technique, causing blades of wind to tear into her opponent's flesh and causing him to scream out in agony. Once her technique had finished, she saw Neji struggling to rise. "Stay down or I'll do worse to you! Just forfeit already!"
Neji struggled to stand up, his wounds bleeding and his eyes holding a cold fury to them that shook Temari just a bit. "I...will not lose to a weakling like you. It's...my fate to win here today. You're just...some pathetic bitch from a weak village! I…"
Before Neji could continue, Temari unleashed another attack on him, tired of hearing him speak nothing but insults to her and her home. Neji barely managed to roll out of the way of the attack, but he wasn't prepared for the follow-up strike when she slammed her closed fan into the side of his head, knocking him out from the force of the blow.
Once she was declared the winner, Temari looked up at Might Guy and scowled. "You know, normally I wouldn't lecture someone like this, but in this case, I'm going to. You really need to work on his attitude. You absolutely cannot allow him to continue being such an arrogant douchebag. Whatever you've been doing so far hasn't worked, so think of a new approach and get through to the prick." she said before rejoining her teammates.
Guy sighed and nodded his head sadly. Neji, my foolish pupil. She is right, I've been far too lenient on you and that is most unyouthful of me.
Yugito Nii vs. Kurotsuchi
As Yugito and Kurotsuchi made their way down into the arena, the Kyuubi decided to rear its ugly head and began speaking to its container. "Heh, so the Nibi's container is up now, is she? Make sure you watch this match carefully brat. That blonde houses my sister, the Nibi. I refuse to have you lose to her if you face her in the finals. Of course, you still have to survive these preliminary matches, don't you?"
Blinking in shock at this, Naruto looked down at Yugito as he replied to the Kyuubi. Does that mean you're willing to help me out a bit, Kyuubi? 'Cause I'll be honest, I could probably use the help. Kami knows I haven't been given the kind of training I so desperately need. Best I've got is my Shadow Clones and my sloppy taijutsu. He admitted somewhat shamefully.
"Hmm, you make a good point. People have been rather biased against you because of me. Tell you what, you make it through the preliminary round and I'll see about cooking up a training program for you to follow. I might even teach you a technique or two if you're well-behaved." Kyuubi remarked, deciding to throw his prison a bone, so to speak. "For now, pay attention to the fight so you know what to expect from her. I guarantee that she'll win this fight. Might not be the easiest fight in the world for her to win, but Nibi's container's tougher than she looks."
Gotcha. And thanks Kyuubi-sensei. Naruto replied as he paid close attention to what was taking place in the arena.
Cutting the connection, Kyuubi released a sigh and shook his head. I'm not your sensei yet, brat. Don't go getting your hopes up. He thought to himself silently.
As soon as the match began, Kurotsuchi flew through a few hand seals before spitting out globs of lava, of all things, that sailed towards her opponent like bullets from a high powered rifle. Yugito nimbly dodged each one before bringing her hand up to her lips and spat out a tiny blue fireball that took the form of a mouse. As it multiplied and grew ever closer to Kurotsuchi, the Iwa kunoichi scowled and quickly created a wall made of earth using one of her Doton techniques that blocked the mouse fireballs.
This turned out to be something of a mistake, because as soon as the wall was destroyed by the numerous explosions happening all at once, Yugito burst through the cloud of dust, swinging her claws at Kurotsuchi's face.
Eyes widening in horror, Kurotsuchi quickly brought up her arms to shield herself against the attack, only for the claws to leave bloody scratches in their wake on her forearms. Grimacing in pain, the Iwa kunoichi lashed out with a kick that connected with Yugito's stomach and sent her skidding backwards along the ground from the force of the blow.
Now that she had a bit of space between them, the pink-eyed kunoichi quickly flew through hand seals before slamming her hands to the ground and calling out, "Magma River!" Almost immediately afterwards, the floor in front of her seemed to cave in as it was transformed into a pit of lava.
Yugito, quickly realizing the danger of such a technique, decided to go for broke and activated the initial stage of her bijuu cloak. Glaring at her opponent, Yugito disappeared in a burst of speed and reappeared right behind Kurotsuchi in mid-swing with her claws ready to shred into her opponent.
Kurotsuchi quickly jumped out of the way, but the claws still struck true, leaving three bleeding gashes on her back. Upon landing, she spun around and spat out more Lava Bullets, but they were dodged by the speedy Yugito. What made things worse is that she had to be careful of the pit of magma she had created, as even she wasn't immune to burning alive in said magma. If I could just lure her into the lava, it would help tremendously. But I don't think she's going to give me the opportunity… Kurotsuchi thought to herself, quite aggravated with her current situation. I didn't realize I was up against a damn jinchuriki of all things!
Faster than her opponent could react, Yugito appeared next to Kurotsuchi and slammed her into the ground, her face dangerously close to the magma. "Surrender. Now!" she snarled out.
The lovely young Iwa kunoichi scowled as she tried to push back against Yugito, but her grip on her head only tightened, eliciting a groan of pain from Kurotsuchi. Glancing around at her surroundings, she tried to find something, anything she could swap places with using the Replacement Technique, but sighed sadly when she didn't find anything usable. So, with a resigned sigh, she nodded slowly. "Proctor, I forfeit. Now will you please get off of me?" she requested.
Yugito nodded once before disabling her cloak and stepped away from Kurotsuchi, who proceeded to use a couple of techniques to cool the pit of lava and solidify it again so they could continue with the preliminaries without such a problem being in the way.
After Kurotsuchi had finished cementing the floor once more, she turned to Yugito and smirked at her. "Next time we have a fight like this, I'm going to win it. Count on it." she said before returning to her teammate and sensei up above.
The Nibi jinchuriki couldn't help but laugh lightly at that and nodded once as she returned to her sensei's side. After a moment however, she looked at Naruto with a frown, as she could sense he held the strongest bijuu of the lot, the Kyuubi. I'll have to introduce myself to him later. I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do, Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto Uzumaki vs. Karui
When Naruto saw his name on the screen, he was initially a bit nervous, but he soon displayed an air of confidence to try and mask his nervousness. Before he could head down to meet his opponent in the arena, he was stopped by Karin, who gave him a hug and said, "Good luck Naruto-kun. Be careful."
"Thanks Karin-chan." he said in reply. Before he could walk off, Sasuke placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't lose Naruto. I want to face you in the finals and I can't do that if you lose here." she said, trying to give him her own version of a pep talk.
Chuckling a bit, the blonde Uzumaki nodded in understanding before he hopped over the railing into the arena below. Standing across from his opponent, Naruto gave her a confident grin. "I hope you're ready for this, because I don't plan to lose here."
"I half expected you to chicken out on me. Guess all that bravado in the first stage of the exam wasn't for nothing, huh? Still, you're shit out of luck. I'm about to crush you." the redhead replied, a cocky grin on her face.
Looking between the two of them, Hayate nodded once before shouting, "Begin!" and leaping away. This was a good decision as Karui immediately went on the attack, her sword swinging somewhat wildly at her blonde foe.
Naruto dodged each attack, moving the absolute minimum that he had to so he wouldn't expend too much energy dodging her attacks. At one point, the blade got a little too close for comfort and cut his cheek, just below his left eye. Naruto seemed to pause at this point as he reached up and wiped some of the blood off of his cheek. "Huh, you're not bad." he complimented before reaching up and quickly grabbing the tip of her blade when she swung it at him once again.
Karui blinked in shock and tried to pull her sword back and out of Naruto's grip, but he held firm, keeping it and, by extension, her in place. "I think it's my turn to make a move, don't you Karui?" he asked rhetorically before he held up his free hand and formed a one-handed seal. "Shadow Clone Technique!"
In an instant, a large puff of smoke surrounded them and made it impossible for anyone to see what was taking place down below. Just as suddenly as it happened, the smoke was blown away by a wave of chakra. When they could see again, a great number of people were shocked at the sheer number of Shadow Clones in the arena. "Since when could he do something like that?! He could never perform the Clone Technique properly. So what the hell is this?!" Kiba questioned loudly.
Kakashi decided to speak up in explanation of the technique. "It's called the Shadow Clone Technique, a kinjutsu created by the Nidaime Hokage. It's a very chakra intensive technique, but it's perfect for someone like Naruto who has far more chakra than any regular person. It's actually why he can't use the regular Clone Technique, as that requires such fine chakra control, which is impossible for Naruto to achieve. Just by looking at the sheer number of clones he's produced and the fact that Naruto doesn't look winded in the slightest should tell you how insane his chakra reserves are."
A great many people were stunned by this information and began to look at Naruto in a new light. The blonde didn't care though. No, he was focused entirely on his fight and couldn't help but smirk at the look of horror on his opponent's face. "Sorry for this, but I did say I was planning to win. Guys, you know what to do." Snapping his fingers, he watched as his numerous Shadow Clones began their assault.
Karui fought valiantly against her opponents, taking down quite a few of them in the process, but three of them soon slipped through her guard and kicked her into the air. "Na-" they began as three more leapt up and kicked her even higher. "Ru-" She was kicked even higher, the clones springing off of one another to reach her. "To" The real Naruto appeared above her, spinning in place before he hit her in the midsection with a powerful kick, the force sending the two of them crashing into the floor below. "Uzumaki Combo!"
With his attack finished, Naruto dispelled his clones and withdrew a kunai before walking over to the downed Karui and pressing his kunai to her neck. "Do you yield?"
Wincing in agony, she said, "Proctor, I forfeit the match."
At hearing this, the proctor called the match in Naruto's favor while the blonde withdrew his kunai and slipped it away. Smiling down at his foe, Naruto helped her to her feet and allowed her to lean against him so she wouldn't collapse. "You fought well Karui. I had fun."
Looking at her opponent, she was a bit flabbergasted, but she couldn't help but smile at him. "Thanks Naruto. You're a lot tougher than you look. I learned a lot from our fight." Shortly after she said that, the medics came out to take her away. She grumbled a bit, but complied with their wishes to take care of her.
Returning to his team, Naruto smiled and fist bumped Sasuke, the two of them grinning at one another. "Good job Naruto. I knew you wouldn't let me down." she said.
"That was awesome! Congratulations Naruto-kun!" Karin exclaimed, smiling brightly at him.
"Yes, good job Naruto. I'm proud of you." Kakashi said with an eye smile on his face.
Naruto frowned at this comment, but nodded his head in acceptance before turning around so he could watch the next fight. Proud of me? Yeah, right. You didn't teach me anything other than the tree climbing exercise. You're a lazy asshole.
"Don't worry about him, Kit. I'll train you for the final matches. What you learn between then and now though is entirely dependent on how much time there is between these preliminary matches and the finals. Regardless, I'll get you up to snuff in no time, especially with those Shadow Clones of yours." the Kyuubi said, trying to cheer his container up a bit.
Thanks Kyuubi-sensei. But I have to ask, why are you being nice to me? Shouldn't you hate me? Naruto questioned, quite curious about the Kyuubi's reasoning.
"Meh, you're not the worst person to be sealed inside of. Besides, you've had it rough and there's no real point in making things worse than they already are. And it's like I said, I don't want my jailer to be weak. You represent me, after all. The assholes in this village have done everything possible to keep you under their thumb and have intentionally stunted your growth. I plan to fix that."
Well...thank you Kyuubi-sensei. I appreciate it. I just hope I don't let you down. And...what did you mean about the Shadow Clones? How can they help with my training?
The Kyuubi sweatdropped at this before chuckling a bit. "If you had bothered to truly read over the description of that technique when you had the Scroll of Seals, you would have learned that anything a Shadow Clone learns, when it dispels, those memories get transferred to the caster of the technique. What this means is that you can use them to help you with your training. Say for instance you're trying to master the exercise for an elemental nature such as fire. Whatever progress one of your Shadow Clones makes with the exercise, it can dispel and pass that knowledge on to you and the other Shadow Clones to make things easier. It also makes learning new techniques pretty easy too. Of course, you'll have to do all the physical exercises yourself, as your clones can't pass on the physical aspects of your training. So while your clones are doing one thing, I plan to have you exercising as much as possible to increase your strength, stamina, the whole shebang. I hope you're prepared for the torture your training's going to be, Naruto Uzumaki."
That sounds awesome! I can't wait Kyuubi-sensei! Naruto exclaimed in thought. I won't let you down.
Sighing, the Kyuubi laid its head down on its paws before relaying one final message to his container. "Kurama, Kit. My name is Kurama. If we're going to be working together, you might as well refer to me by name."
Kurama, huh? That's a nice name. Thanks again, Kurama-sensei. All Kurama could do was chuckle a bit as he watched through his container's eyes as the next two fighters took their place in the arena.
Tenten vs. Samui
"Wish I had breasts that big." Karin muttered to herself as she looked at the blonde Kumo kunoichi in the arena. "I feel so flat in comparison."
Sasuke quirked a brow in curiosity before looking at Karin's chest. Then she looked down at her own breasts before looking into Karin's eyes. "These things just get in the way. I'd gladly trade you if I could."
Karin looked at Sasuke for a moment before she began to cry comically. "It's not fair. You were a guy! How'd you end up with a body like that when you were transformed, huh?"
The raven-haired Uchiha sweatdropped at this before turning around to watch the fight. She figured it was best to ignore the inane ramblings of the redhead behind her.
Samui couldn't help but release a sigh as she rubbed her shoulders a bit. "Yet another person that claims to envy my body. So uncool. These things make my back ache enough as it is."
Her opponent, Guy's final student, giggled and nodded her head. "I'm sure they do. But you can't really blame other girls for admiring your figure. Most women wish they had your kind of figure, big breasts included. Personally though? I couldn't care less. My goal is to be as strong, if not stronger than Tsunade-sama someday. Beating you here will put me one step closer to that goal. So, I hope you're ready. I'm going to rock your world."
Samui deadpanned at her opponent and said, "You know the perverts are going to take that the wrong way. Why'd you say it like that? So uncool."
When Tenten went to reply, she stopped as she heard perverted giggling coming from a couple of people. Sweatdropping, she rubbed the back of her head and chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that. Anyways, we're ready proctor." she said, looking to Hayate who nodded before calling for the match to begin.
Samui immediately drew her tanto and prepared to combat anything her opponent might send her way. However, she didn't expect for dozens of weapons to come flying at her. She deflected as many of them as she could, but still ended up receiving numerous nicks and scratches along her body, while a few weapons were actually embedded in her left arm and right leg.
Wincing at this, Samui watched as her opponent began to manipulate her weapons via razor thin ninja wire. When they came flying at her again, Samui muttered, "Uncool." before letting out a soft sigh and saying, "Proctor, I forfeit. I don't have anything that could combat this type of opponent."
When the weapons fell lifelessly to the ground, the blonde bombshell breathed a sigh of relief before she bowed her head to her opponent. "Thank you. You've shown me an area that I need to improve in. Good luck in the finals." and with that being said, Samui allowed the medics to take her away while Tenten went to work collecting all of her weapons once again.
Naruto couldn't help but smile for his old friend's victory. When they were in the orphanage together, she was his only friend. The day she got adopted, he made her promise not to forget about him, just as he promised not to forget about her. Unfortunately, upon meeting again, it seemed as if she had no idea who he even was, which stung, but he wasn't quite sure what he was expecting. Still, he didn't hold a grudge against her for forgetting about him. Actually, he was just sad that he had lost his once friend.
When Tenten went to pass him, he whispered to her, "Congratulations on your win...Ten-chan." causing her to pause and stare at him.
"Nobody's called me that in a long time, aside from my parents, that is. A kid back in the orphanage used to call me that, but I can't remember his face." she admitted, a frown on her face as she looked him over.
Naruto sighed at this and nodded his head. "I kind of figured. At least you haven't totally forgotten about me. I was worried your new parents might have...might have done something to make you forget about me."
The bun-haired girl frowned at this. "Don't go accusing my parents of anything you little runt. They're good people! They…" it was at this point that Tenten clutched at her head and screamed out in pain. "They...they wouldn't…" she muttered through the pain.
Tenten's sensei was by her side in an instant, looking her over carefully for whatever might be causing his student such agony. What he saw worried him greatly. As he parted the hair on the top of her head, he could see the outline of a seal shining brightly. In no time at all, he had his student in front of the Hokage. "Hokage-sama, someone has placed a seal on my student! Just look at what it's doing to her!"
Hiruzen frowned as he examined what he could see of the seal through her hair. Humming to himself, he ran his finger along the seal, glad that the girl had passed out, lest her screaming give him a headache. To think people would go so far to ensure Naruto-kun didn't have any friends.
Looking into Guy's eyes, Hiruzen shook his head sadly. "I'll need to recall Jiraiya for this. He's far better with seals than I am, I'm afraid. When she wakes up, tell her to avoid contact with Naruto for a while and not to think about what triggered this reaction. It's for her own good. I'll tell Jiraiya to return as quickly as he can. Hopefully he doesn't dilly dally for his own perverse habits like he's wont to do."
The eccentric Jonin nodded his head. "Please do so. And if he decides to take any detours on the way, please let him know that I'll personally punish him. He may be a Sannin and this village's spymaster, but that will not exempt him from punishment should he act in an unyouthful manner. Tenten is one of my precious students and I don't like seeing her harmed like this."
The aged Sandaime Hokage nodded before motioning for him to leave. "I assure you Guy that Jiraiya will be here within the week. He knows better than to cross me when I give him an order."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Guy said before returning to his other students where he laid Tenten down against the wall. "Such an unyouthful act must not go unpunished." he said to himself as he thought about who might have put such a thing on his student, hoping dearly it wasn't who he thought it was.
Naruto, meanwhile, frowned as he looked at his once friend. So...they did do something after all. Doesn't that just figure? He thought to himself with a sigh.
"What the hell was all that about Naruto?" Sasuke questioned, narrowing her eyes on her friend.
The blonde shook his head and shrugged. "Ten-chan and I were friends when we lived in the orphanage together. It seems...someone wanted to keep her from associating with me."
"But why, Naruto? It's obvious something was done to her, but my question is why? What is it that makes people hate you so much?"
Naruto shook his head, his expression solemn. "I'll...tell you later, Sasuke. Not here. Not in front of all these people."
Karin piped up at this point. "So, it is like I figured then." she said quietly, only being heard by Naruto and his team. Looking into her new friend's eyes, she offered him a sympathetic smile. "You've had it rough, haven't you?"
Before Naruto could say anything in reply, Kakashi made his presence heard. "I'm afraid this subject is something best not discussed so openly. If Naruto wishes to discuss it later in a private setting, that's his prerogative. For now, it's best to drop this subject."
Despite his dislike of his sensei, Naruto had to admit he was thankful to him at this point. Nodding his head slowly, the whiskered youth smiled at his friends and said, "I promise I'll talk to you about this later. Right now, let's just focus on the rest of these matches and study them. You never know who we might end up against in the finals."
"Naruto's right. Focus on the matches for now." Kakashi said in agreement with his student. Though I wish he wouldn't make such promises. It's best to keep knowledge of the Kyuubi close to the chest.
Fu vs. Sasuke Uchiha
When Naruto looked at who would be Sasuke's opponent, he frowned when he heard the Kyuubi chuckling in his head. What's so funny Kurama-sensei?
Kurama's chuckling slowly came to a stop before he began to speak. "That Fu girl. She houses another of my brethren, the Nanabi. If that girl's able to tap into my sister's power, then your friend doesn't stand a chance."
Frowning at this, Naruto looked at Sasuke, who had already ventured down to the arena below. Shit. What should I do, Kurama-sensei?
"Nothing. Just let this play out how it will and hope Nanabi's jinchuriki isn't the bloodthirsty type. I highly doubt she is, considering the Nanabi's temperament. If anyone's the bloodthirsty type, it's Ichibi's container, that Gaara kid. Ichibi's always been a bit unstable, but that kid just reeks of bloodlust. I'd steer clear of that one until you've improved some." Kurama advised.
Looking at Gaara, Naruto frowned and shook his head. Damn. What the hell are so many jinchuriki doing here? Something about this just doesn't feel right…
"Your guess is as good as mine, Kit. For now, focus on the fight and pay attention to everything this Fu girl can do. It's already a given she's going to win this fight, so I want you to be prepared in case you have to fight her in the future."
Got it. I hate to see Sasuke lose like this though. Naruto thought with a frown as he watched the proctor announce the match.
"You can't win 'em all Kit. You'd be a fool to think yourself invincible. Hopefully her loss here will help Sasuke learn a little humility and prove to her that just because she's an Uchiha, it doesn't mean everything is always going to go her way. It's like that time when you two were fighting that ice girl, Haku. Sasuke couldn't defeat that opponent, and yet it did nothing to curb Sasuke's attitude. This should hopefully have the effect she so desperately needs."
Something about what Kurama had just said struck Naruto as odd. Wait...girl? I thought Haku was a guy?
Chuckling could be heard coming from the Kyuubi at this point. "No Kit, Haku was a girl. She tricked you."
Well...damn. Not much else I can say about that. I knew she was way too pretty to be a guy, but…
"Yeah, yeah. Just focus on the fight playboy." Kurama teased, much to Naruto's embarrassment.
Sure enough, the fight had begun while they were talking. Sasuke had attempted a Great Fireball Technique, but Fu had simply flown over it. Looking at her airborne opponent, Sasuke frowned as she tried to figure out what kind of technique allowed for such a thing. Before she could react, Fu released a bright, glowing mist of some kind that blinded her, causing her to wince in pain. Shit! How am I supposed to fight if I can't see her?!
Before Sasuke could devise some kind of strategy for fighting her airborne opponent, she felt a hard blow to the gut that caused her to spit up a glob of saliva. "S-shit…" she said quietly as she stumbled back a few steps, the pain in her gut not lessening in the slightest.
"I'm sorry, but you should just give up Uchiha-san. You can't win." Fu said in an effort to convince her opponent to forfeit the match. "I don't want to hurt you anymore if I can avoid it."
Scowling at this, Sasuke opened her eyes, Sharingan blazing as she looked at her opponent. "I...I refuse to quit! I need to move forward! I can't let you beat me here!" she exclaimed before throwing a few shuriken at Fu. She was shocked when her shuriken just bounced harmlessly off of her opponent. "H-how?"
"You don't need to know. Suffice it to say, you can't beat me Uchiha-san. That's all I'll say." the mint-haired girl said before she took to the sky again. Once she was airborne, she held up a single hand seal before opening her mouth and spitting out a water bullet, the speed of which worried Sasuke slightly as she did a backflip to avoid the technique. However, when she looked up, she saw several more water bullets flying at her. The female Uchiha cursed as she dodged one after another, only to slip when she landed on some of the water left over from Fu's attacks.
Needless to say, this gave Fu her opening and she took full advantage of it by moving in and hitting Sasuke in the back of the neck hard enough to knock her out. As Sasuke crumpled to the floor, Fu breathed out a sigh of relief before she made her way back to her sensei.
Kakashi sighed as he collected his student and laid her against the wall. "Well, at least one of you made it through to the finals. I fully expected Sasuke to make it through as well, but you can't win 'em all."
Naruto shook his head at that and said, "She was just unlucky this time around. I'm sure that Sasuke will succeed next time. Right now, I just hope I don't fuck up in the finals. I'm a bit nervous, to be honest with you."
Karin frowned at hearing this before she wrapped Naruto in a hug. "You'll do great Naruto-kun. I'm sure of it. Besides, you'll probably have some time to train between now and the finals, so I'm positive you'll only get stronger. Have a little more confidence in yourself."
The whiskered blonde nodded slowly as he hugged his clanmate back. "Thanks Karin-chan. Still, it's going to be tough. I have to be prepared for whoever I end up facing."
Kankuro vs. Shino Aburame
Naruto rather enjoyed this fight. Shino was able to quickly deduce that the bundle housed the real Kankuro while the Suna Genin they all saw was, in all actuality, Kankuro's puppet. At first, as the kikaichu descended upon the bundle, a great majority of the people there expected it to be a quick victory for the young Aburame. However, Kankuro leapt from the bundle, bug free, and manipulated his puppet to strike at his opponent with one of his many poisoned weapons.
Shino had his kikaichu leech off of the chakra strings connecting Kankuro to his puppet, forcing the Suna Genin to cancel his technique, lest he get swarmed by the bothersome insects. However, much to everyone's surprise, he managed to quickly send out a single chakra thread that connected with his puppet's head, making it lunge at Shino with a blade protruding from its mouth.
Shino dodged, but ended up being scratched by the poisoned blade. However, at this point, Kankuro was covered in the Aburame's kikaichu and was screaming as he tried to shake them off of him. Sadly for him, he was soon rendered unconscious as they drained his chakra reserves dry before returning to Shino. Before the match could be announced in his favor, however, Shino collapsed as well, the poison affecting him deeply. So, with no clear winner, Hayate announced the match as a draw before the medics rushed out and carried the two combatants away.
The final match of the preliminaries was between Ino Yamanaka of Konoha and Suzumebachi of Iwa. This was a pathetically short match, as Ino was a diehard fangirl that hadn't taken her training very seriously at all. The teenage blonde attempted to use her primary clan technique to take over Suzumebachi's body, but her opponent avoided this technique and had her bees descend upon Ino, quickly taking her out of the competition.
Now, with all the matches over and done with, all of the winners were called down to draw numbers from a box as it was carried to each of them.
"I've got one." Naruto said as he held up his slip of paper.
"N-nine." Hinata said timidly.
"Seven. How troublesome." Shikamaru muttered.
"Six." Choji said.
"I'm eight." Tenten said, having woken up sometime during Shino's match. She was feeling a little better now, but she couldn't help but feel like something was wrong.
"Ten." Gaara said quietly.
"I'm number two." Temari said with a grin.
"Five." Yugito said with a smile on her face.
"Four." Omoi said.
"I'm eleven!" Fu exclaimed happily.
"That means I'm number three. How fun." Suzumebachi said.
"Okay, if you'll please look at this board, you'll see who you're going to be up against in the finals." Hayate said, coughing a couple of times as he spoke.
Naruto Uzumaki vs. Temari
Suzumebachi vs. Omoi
Yugito Nii vs. Choji Akimichi
Shikamaru Nara vs. Tenten
Hinata Hyuga vs. Gaara
Fu vs. Winner of Match #5
Seeing who he was up against, Naruto shot a glance at Temari, who simply smiled and waved at him. Smiling back, he said, "Best of luck Temari. I'm looking forward to our fight."
"Same here. I'm eager to see what you can really do." Temari admitted.
It was at this point that the Hokage's voice interrupted their conversation. "Congratulations on making it through to the finals of the Chunin Exam. The finals will be held one month from now. Take that time to train hard for your battles and do your village proud. Each of you have more than earned your place in the final matches, and I know I, as well as many others, are looking forward to seeing what you can do. Dismissed!"
As Naruto went to walk away, the Hokage's voice stopped him. "Naruto-kun, I would like to speak with you in my office tomorrow morning. I have a lot to talk with you about. For now, take the rest of the day off and try to relax. And...good luck in the finals."
Nodding slowly, Naruto was soon joined by Karin as they made their way out of the tower. Naturally, he was curious about what was so important that the Hokage would ask to speak with him, but he pushed that thought aside for simply enjoying Karin's presence. He would worry about the finals and his meeting with the Hokage later. Right now, he wanted to go enjoy a couple nice, hot bowls of ramen at his favorite establishment in the village, Ramen Ichiraku. He had already gone far too long without enjoying the food of the gods and he'd be damned if he went without it any longer. Sure, ramen wasn't all that he ate, but he still loved his favorite food and liked to spoil himself a little from time to time.
Before they could leave the tower, Sasuke caught up to them and patted her teammate on the shoulder. "Hey there. I hope you weren't planning on ditching me. I still want to hear the truth from you about what the heck's going on. Also...congrats on making it to the finals. Sorry I couldn't join you. I really tried, but…"
Naruto smiled at Sasuke and shook his head. "It's okay Sasuke. You really just had poor luck this time around. I'll...explain later, but your opponent was just out of your league. Probably out of mine too. There's a reason for that and I promise I'll tell you later. For now, let's just go enjoy a nice, warm meal, and leave worrying about all the other crap for later. I know I'm starving!"
Giggling a bit, Sasuke nodded her head before following along as they left the tower and proceeded through the Forest of Death, making their way back towards the village proper. I can't help but wonder just what he means by that. I suppose I'll find out later. For now, it's nice to just be with my friend.
A/N - And that's the end of the chapter! Hopefully you enjoyed it. If not...then crud. lol
Anyways, I know some of the fights weren't all that great, but like I said before, I was feeling like utter shit while writing this chapter. That and I've been extremely fatigued for the past few days and just...haven't had the energy to really do much of anything.
As you can see, Sasuke lost her fight while Naruto won his. I tried to make things interesting with all the fights and I tried to be more original this time as well in who fought against who. I think it turned out fairly well really.
Oh! Before I forget, there was one more thing I wanted to mention! Somebody left a review on the first chapter pretty much complaining about how I brought in a bunch of girls for the harem. Thing is, that is not my intention. It never was. I just wanted to make things more interesting and be a bit more diverse in how I did things. I actually had no plans for the harem at all when I wrote that first chapter. *shrugs* I pretty much just write and let whatever happens, happen. That's how I've always done it and I have no plans to change that. Will some of them end up with Naruto? Possibly. Who the hell knows? lol. I know I don't.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope you're looking forward to more. I honestly have no idea what I'll work on next, sooo...just be on the lookout for whatever. lol